Going With The Flow

I know how you feel. I thought they should let the drug thing die, supported Armstrong etc. Then I watched his Oprah interview and now I think he and all the other Athletes that secretly dope are cheaters! It is disheartening. I feel so bad for those athletes that play fair and bring their wits to the table, while others just cheat and get much farther ahead.

The drug thing got swept under the rug for way too long... in all sports. It needs to get completely blown up at this point... the governing bodies need to come down harder and harder on everyone. More transparency, more media attention, more testing, biological passports, stricter sanctions, lifetime bans. Right now the benefits of cheating still outweigh the potential consequences. That needs to shift and be the other way around.

I was reading a study about average joe runners (like myself) that were put through an experiment where they doped. The results were crazy, and they weren't even pro athletes. After a few months their times in the 5k went down by two minutes or so and they felt like running was easier.

I also read both of Lance Armstrong's books and he CONTINUALLY denies that he did any doping of any kind. It's so sad that if you want to even compete at that level, you most likely have to dope. At least he finally came out and admitted it... My question is, who else needs to come out and admit it?

Anyway, I am just blabbing.... This subject is just so intriguing. I will have to look this book up, thanks.

Bec - The book is very eye-opening and I think would interest you. I know this is prevalent in other sports as well...I wonder when they will finally crack down on the problem.

I shed a couple tears when I saw the baseball stats. Cheaters! Ugh

With all of our current social/economic issues I believe it comes down to consequences of actions are not harsh enough. I remember reading in The Daily Utah Chronicle that Armstrong's punishment was too harsh! What? Shoot the dishonest fools to show them what punishment really means.

I agree that once the addiction of drugs take over it definitely hinders ones control over ones self, but would it event get to that point if 'radical' punishments were in place.. I don't jump in fire because I don't like getting burt; but for some a more extreme punishment is clearly needed to keep them out of the fire.

End of rant:)

Shooting them seems a little harsh.

Andrea - I read this book before the USADA findings and before the Lance interviews etc. I never liked Tyler in interviews and found something off-putting about him. But the writer of his book was a better story teller than Tyler is in interviews - and I just found the whole thing quite fascinating - from the details of the science of the blood in endurance athletes to the motivation/driving force behind each rider who dopes, to the whole dynamic between the real world of cycling to the general public's knowledge of things.

The psychology of it is what really fascinates me. Like you said, Bret, what motivates each person to make that jump to the "dark side"... and then how they get caught up in it and justify staying there. You try to put yourself in those shoes - how would you respond in those situations?

Another part I found insanely disturbing is how they would train super hard all day and then, to cut weight, chug a bunch of water and take sleeping pills, and try to sleep through several meals. Then wake up and train for 6-8 hours again. Its like... wow... the (terrible) lengths they would go to...

Jake, so they were sleeping through meal times? Trying to hide from hunger pangs?

Can anyone shed some light on how doping improves running ability? Is it that it improves lung function?

Yes exactly, to sleep through being hungry. It would destroy your body... unless you were juiced to the gills.

"Doping" can mean a lot of things. Here's the really brief summary. These guys were using EPO (or straight up blood transfusions - they would bank their own blood, freeze it, and re-infuse it during the long tours) to increase red blood cell counts. Essentially, that means they could deliver a lot more oxygen to their muscles. More O2 = more endurance. They were also using things like testosterone to aid recovery. So they could train harder without breaking down. Or just train hard every single day... no easy days, because the drugs they were taking allowed them to recover overnight, at exponential rates compared to typical human physiology. Basically it comes down to doing things that increase endurance (oxygen uptake/delivery) and enhance muscle recovery.

And they just called everything "B Vitamins" :-)

Dude, that is nuts!

Just off to the Doc to get some sleeping pills... nah, instead, I think I'll go to the bakers and get some donuts - chocolate covered donuts.